Carpe Diem
by Little Mockingjay
Summary: Following Jason's death, Percy is shaken. When he decides that their time is precious, he asks Annabeth an important question. Post-TBM, one-shot.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Percy Jackson.

**Carpe Diem**

It seemed so unreal. When Piper had arrived at his house with Meg and…Lester in tow, Percy had been annoyed, sure that the former god wanted something. Time seemed to stop when Piper had told him the reason for the visit; Jason had been killed fighting Caligula.

He'd taken Blackjack back to camp, having him bring a couple of friends for Lester and the girls. Percy knew he'd be too distracted to drive, and the last thing Piper deserved right now was to end up in a pothole or be accosted by some monster. All they needed was to be at camp.

Nico was probably the worst, by the simple fact that he silently walked up to Percy and hugged him. It had been so long since he'd seen the kid cry, and when he realized what memories this probably tore open, Percy had squeezed him tighter, encouraging him to let it out this time, don't bottle it up again. The one thing that got Nico out of his funk was shakily recounting how much Jason helped him in coming out, to which Percy joked that once everything was over, they were going to find Cupid and play volleyball with his head. That had gotten a small smile out of the kid.

He was alone in his cabin, lying on his bed and now lost in his guilty thoughts. Why didn't he just accompany Meg and Lester on their…Quest? Prophecy? Mission? Whatever it was, if he'd have known it would have led to this, he would never have refused.

Percy made the mistake of closing his eyes and his heart spiked in panic when he could practically see the intense eyes of the goddess Athena, blazing with fury. She had warned him of this very thing, and it was crucial that he keep his wits about him. Somehow, he also knew the greater source of her anger toward him, at least for the moment: if Percy were to get himself killed, Annabeth would be devastated.

Percy loved Annabeth more than anything and hated to think of what his death would do to her (this thought caused Athena's gaze to soften, if only a bit), but that didn't erase the long list of people he'd let down. Bianca, Nico, Calypso, Bob, Damisen…And now Jason. So many he'd done wrong by. What kind of hero was he?

"Percy." The guilt in Percy's heart was pushed out and replaced by the joy that voice gave him. By the time he looked at her, Annabeth was already on her way over and he had just enough time to scoot over before she lay beside him. She snuggled into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, held her and kissed her head. She gave a little sniff; she'd been crying.

They'd only snuggled in a bed like this a couple of times. The first time had been at her house when her parents were supposed to out, but a change of plans led to them being caught by her father; it was mortifying. The second time was at his house in which they actually were alone and uninterrupted.

"I still can't believe it." Annabeth said, sounding so small and helpless. That voice had always given Percy the urge to march up to whatever was causing his girlfriend pain and punch it in it's face. But how did one punch this in the face?

"It's my fault." Percy said quietly. "Apollo and Meg wanted me to help with whatever is going on, but I didn't want to get caught up in another big prophecy. Maybe if I swallowed my damn pride, it wouldn't have happened."

"Perseus Jackson, don't ever think like that again." Percy was startled when Annabeth, eyes still shinning with tears but somehow looking furious as ever, looked straight into his eyes. "If you died without me you know I'd go straight down to Elysium and drag you back to the world of the living myself. And then I'd give you hell for the rest of our lives. I don't care if it's selfish, I can't lose you again."

Percy smiled for the first time in hours. "I'm sorry, Annabeth." He brought her hand to his mouth and gave it of soft kiss. There was silence as she settled back down, laying her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He occasionally ran his hand across her hair in long, slow pets.

It should have been relaxing, but Percy still felt that something had to be done. The whole ordeal with the Romans had left its scars, one of which was a feeling of urgency; war, Hera, a quest, Tartarus, the narrow avoidance of another war, and finally the death if their dear friend Jason Grace. It all translated to a single sentiment: If you want to do something, hurry and do it before something else happens.

If only he could; hydras, hellhounds, gorgons, the gods themselves? Piece of cake. What had popped into his head at the moment? Terrifying. So, the secret coward that Percy dubbed himself, he kept quiet.

When Annabeth moved to get up, Percy tightened his grip on her and held her closer. "No, you stay here." He planted a kiss on her forehead. "You belong here."

"Who says?" she challenged, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I do." Percy said seriously, "You're mine."

"Oh, it's like that, is it?" Annabeth brought her hand up to Percy's face and slowly ran her fingers through his hair. "Is that why you whooped those two kids butts last month?"

Percy had been teaching a sword-fighting class the previous month, when he overheard a pair of newly claimed thirteen-year-old Hermes boys talking…lewdly about Annabeth, saying how 'smoking' she was and the things they would do to her. When he caught them openly staring at her, Percy had been infuriated and volunteered them for first-hand demonstrations. The boys had been knocked unconscious inside a minute each, and the other students had made it a point to stay out of Percy's way for the rest of the day.

"Those little perverts were…staring at your butt." Percy told her, a hint of aggravation creeping onto his face. "I was just putting them in their places."

"Defending your territory?" Annabeth teased.

"Yeah." Percy said absently, too lost in the thought to think clearly. His brain power returned after a second. "Wait, no. Y-You're not just a –" He was cut off when Annabeth gave a small laugh and kissed him deeply. They were both floating in dizziness when they broke apart. The words tumbled out of Percy's mouth before he realized what he said.

"Marry me."

Annabeth gave a small, amused laugh, but the smile left her face when Percy didn't laugh. Her heart lept into her throat. "Percy –"

"I know we're young, but so was Jason." Percy said, clutching Annabeth's hands in his. "I don't care about my own life, but I don't want to die without being able to say you were my everything. My best friend, my girlfriend, my first and only love, my reason for living. I want to be able to call you my wife, to know you were mine."

"I am yours." Annabeth said, slipping one of her hand from his to put it on his cheek. "And you're mine. I know that this has you shaken, but we can't rush these things?"

"Why not?" Percy asked. "It's not like we've only known each other for months and are jumping into something we're not prepared for. We've known each other since we were kids and I've loved you ever since. It doesn't even have to be official."

"An unofficial marriage?" Annabeth gave him a confused look. Percy could count the number of times he'd seen her this way on one hand, and it was really a shame because it was adorable on her. "What do you mean."

"No priest, no ceremony, no anything. Just the promise of being together forever. And we can have a real wedding when you're ready, but this'll be just between us; if you don't want anyone to know, it's fine. We'll know, that's all I need."

Annabeth was trying to control her smile. A small laugh broke out when she spoke. "This is crazy."

Percy took Annabeth's free hand and held her hands in his, palm to palm and fingers laced. They never broke eye contact.

"I, Percy Jackson, son Poseidon and Sally Jackson, take you, Annabeth Chase, forever and ever. I take you here in our mortal lives and when the time comes, into Elysium, as my wife." Percy found it remarkable that the words were coming so easily and almost without thought. Aphrodite, he assumed, had for once decided to be helpful. For a goddess of love, she sure did seem to enjoy romantic sabotage.

"And I, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and Fredrick Chase, take you, Percy Jackson, forever and ever. I take you here in our mortal lives and when the time comes, into Elysium, as my husband." Annabeth repeated, a small smile on her face the whole way. Maybe it wasn't the grand-ish event she'd pictured, surrounded by friends and family and in all likelihood a pair of very uncomfortable Olympians, but as Percy had said, that could come later.

The kiss was long and lingering, and official or not, it truly did feel like something sacred had been sealed. They broke apart, their hands had left each other, and their arms were now locked around each other. If someone was to enter Cabin Three, they would just see Percy and his girlfriend comforting one another in privacy, none the wiser about the deeper bond and vows that had been made moments ago.

* * *

The vows are reworked from _Wolves of the Beyond, Book Five: Star Wolf_, in which Faolan and Edme have a private 'wedding' by professing their love and vowing their loyalty to one another under the stars. Totally recommended book series for any wolf lover, btw. Review.


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